Believe It or Not

By: Nino Bujega
Date: March 10, 2009
Category: Genetics / Terminology

Over the last few weeks there has been some discussion on what constitutes a
"breed" of domesticated animal or bird. While most of this discussion has
been on the TipplerTopics discussion group, the subject does arise from time
to time on the FlyingTipplers discussion group as well. Much of the
discussions are based on variation, type, species, and subspecies.

Nevertheless, in trying to redirect what and how a "breed" is created, so I
have decided to discuss some of these terminologies and their meanings in an
effort to educate and to combat unsubstantiated or misguided rhetoric.

Species

When talking in biological terms, "species", is a biological classification
and a taxonomic rank. Species are organisms capable of interbreeding and
producing fertile offspring. Arguably, prior to Darwin's theories, there
were many definitions of a species, but today most biologists would agree
that a definition is: populations that have a high level of genetic
similarity. The definition of the word species above is not what most animal
breeders would consider viable to be used for a distinct "breed" for reasons
that will follow later. Also one must understand that when referring to a
species, we are really recognizing what evolution has brought about in the
wild through natural selection and without any intervention from man.

Variation

What we are saying in laymans terms is that there are differences within
species largely due to their geographical distribution (John T. Gulick,
1872) from their "Wild Type". Natural selection has done its job with
respects to the environment. Thus, there are some animals that have a
"Variation" in some way from their "Wild Type." However, this does not make
way for them to become a new species, nor does this allow them to be classed
as a distinct "breed" as some would suggest.

Subspecies

Again in layman's terms it is the taxonomic rank (a category or hierarchy of
rank) immediately subordinate to a species (one step below!) These are in a
group that is less distinct than their primary species from which they
originate. Their characteristics are derived from changes resulted from
their geographical regions or through evolutionary changes that may have
been caused from such things as isolation; they were in some way confined to
a region. However, please note that this is not what constitutes a "breed".

For our discussion the Rock Pigeon or Rock Dove (Columba Livia) is a member
of the bird family Columbidae (doves and pigeons) and was first described by
Gmelin back in 1789. There are in pigeons 12 subspecies recognized by Gibbs
in 2000 that cover much of the globe. The species (Columba Livia) was
introduced into North America in 1606 that may gives rise to, and arguably,
to some of our discussion in terms of variation from their wild type.

Breed

A breed is a group of domesticated animals (as applied to the discussion
herein) with a homogenous appearance, behavior, and other similar
characteristics that would distinguish them from others of their species.
This can only be achieved by possessing a large number of common genes. This
has largely been achieved by man's intervention: artificial selection. A
breed's traits are inherited. Purebred animals and birds pass these
'breed-traits' on from generation to generation. Therefore a breed is made
up of specimens that carry the same genetic information originating from the
foundation parents. Through selection, those with desirable traits and
characteristics are allowed to propagate, and those showing the least amount
of desirable traits are culled. Through in-breeding, an informed breeder can
capitalize and retain certain traits and characteristics to insure further
uniformity in their stock for what they desire.

I hope this explanation is viewed as informative rather than damming by
others with a contrary opinion. In the above explanation I have given
scientific terminologies and their meanings in a hope to give some
understanding of terms used on our tippler discussion forums.
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